System and method for providing outpatient small animal veterinary medical care

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing small animal veterinary care is provided. The system and method includes providing an enclosed garage adjacent to a veterinary exam room and the garage includes entry and exit garage doors at opposite ends of the garage. A vehicle holding a small animal is received into the garage through the entry garage door. Without going outside the small animal receives veterinary care, such as outpatient veterinary care, which may occur in the adjacent exam room. Following the provision of care, the vehicle exits the garage through the exit garage door. The garage and the veterinary exam room are located under a common roof, such that the small animal is able to be moved from the vehicle directly into the exam room without going outside.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of veterinarymedicine. The present invention relates specifically to a system andmethod for delivering outpatient veterinary medicine/care to smallanimals. Typical small animal veterinary clinics have an outdoor parkinglot, a waiting room with a reception area and an exam room off thewaiting room. The owner and pet leave a vehicle that is located in theoutdoor parking lot, walk outside to the vet clinic entrance and intothe waiting room. The waiting room is a common area that typically holdsmultiple owners and their pets awaiting their turn to see theveterinarian. Further, typical small animal veterinary clinics areequipped for non-outpatient procedures, such as surgery and dentistry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the invention relates to a process for deliveringoutpatient veterinary care to a small animal. The process includesreceiving a vehicle holding a small animal into a garage bay through afirst garage door, and the first garage door is located at a first endof the garage bay. The process includes accessing the small animal atthe vehicle within the garage bay for medical treatment. The processincludes directing the small animal from the vehicle, into the garagebay and through a door into an exam room, and the door has a first sidefacing the garage bay and a second side facing the exam room. Theprocess includes providing outpatient veterinary care to the smallanimal within the exam room. The process includes directing the smallanimal from the exam room through the door, into the garage bay and intothe vehicle following the provision of outpatient veterinary care. Theprocess includes opening a second garage door located at a second end ofthe garage bay and positioned opposite from the first garage door suchthat the vehicle holding the small animal is allowed to exit the garagebay through the second garage door.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a process for deliveringmedical treatment to a pet animal. The process includes receiving avehicle having a passenger compartment into a garage bay through a firstgarage door, and the first garage door located at a first end of thegarage bay. The vehicle holds a pet animal within the passengercompartment. The process includes accessing the pet animal at thepassenger compartment of the vehicle within the garage bay for medicaltreatment. The process includes opening a second garage door located ata second end of the garage bay, allowing the vehicle holding the petanimal to exit the garage bay following medical treatment of the petanimal.

Another embodiment of the invention relates to a system for deliveringoutpatient veterinary care to small animals. The system includes agarage having a covered and enclosed parking area, an entry garage doorat a first end of the parking area and an exit garage door at a secondend of the parking area. The system includes an entry driveway leadingto the entry garage door and an exit driveway leading away from the exitgarage door. The system includes a veterinary exam room connected theenclosed parking area. A common roof covers the enclosed parking area,the entry garage door, the exit garage door and the veterinary examroom.

Alternative exemplary embodiments relate to other features andcombinations of features as may be generally recited in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This application will become more fully understood from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingfigures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a drive-through outpatient veterinaryclinic, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the drive-through outpatientveterinary clinic of FIG. 1, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a drive-through veterinary clientbuilding of the clinic shown in FIG. 1, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring generally to the figures, various embodiments of a process andsystem for conveniently and efficiently delivering outpatient, smallanimal/pet veterinary care is shown. In general, the process and systemrelate to a drive-through or drive-in outpatient veterinary clinic thatincludes one or more garage bays adjacent to a veterinary exam room.When the clinic's client pulls up to the clinic, the entry garage dooropens allowing the client to pull the vehicle into the garage bay.Veterinary clinic staff meets the client within the garage bay, and thesmall animal/pet is accessed at the vehicle within the garage bay,either by the client/pet owner or by veterinary clinic staff, and thepet and/or client is directed to move from the garage bay to the examroom. In various embodiments, the garage bay and exam room are locatedin the same building (e.g., under a common roof, sharing a commonfoundation, sharing common walls, etc.), and in specific embodiments, adoor of the exam room opens directly to the garage bay. In someembodiments, veterinary clinic staff may be able to provide certainservices to the small animal in the garage bay while the smallanimal/pet remains in the vehicle.

In various embodiments, the clinic is only equipped to provideoutpatient veterinary services (such as wellness checkups, vaccinations,blood and fecal testing, diagnosing and treating minor health conditionssuch as ear infections, dispensing heart worm and flea and tickmedications, etc.) rather than also being equipped to provide fullveterinary services, such as surgery and dentistry, as is the standardfor typical small animal veterinary clinics. Despite conventionalveterinary practice, Applicant has identified a need to provide regular,basic outpatient small animal veterinary care in a manner that is moreefficient and requires less time and planning on the part of theclient/pet owner, and Applicant believes that this need has not beforebeen recognized in the small animal veterinary industry. Further, byfocusing on outpatient and wellness veterinary care, the system andprocess discussed herein saves on the overhead involved with staffingand equipping a full service veterinary clinic.

In addition, the garage bay and exam room set up discussed hereinprovides improved services to clients/pet owners. Using the system andmethod discussed herein, clients and pet owners are able to avoidinclement weather because they are not required to park outside and towalk outside to the vet clinic entrance. Further, by providing access tothe exam room directly from the garage bay, pet owners do not need towait within or traverse a waiting room with their pet which can posevariety of difficulties related to pet size, temperament, behavior,level of training, etc.

Further, in some embodiments, a window is provided in the exam roomwhich allows the client to maintain visual contact with their vehiclelocated in the garage while the pet receives veterinary care within theexam room. This arrangement can provide substantial convenience to busyparents by allowing children to remain in the vehicle during receipt ofthe veterinary service while remaining under supervision of the parent.This arrangement may also be safer for clients who may have difficultymanaging their pets, for example due to the client's physicallimitations or disabilities or a mismatch of client skills and a dog'ssize, strength, etc. The details and structure of the process and systemfor providing veterinary care along with additional benefits, advantagesand functionality are discussed herein.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a system and method for delivering outpatientcare to a small animal/pet is shown and described. FIGS. 1-3 show asystem for delivering outpatient veterinary care to small animals, shownas drive-through veterinary clinic 10, according to an exemplaryembodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, drive-through veterinary clinic 10includes a clinic building 12, an entry driveway 14, and an exitdriveway 16. Drive-through veterinary clinic 10 may include a pluralityof outdoor parking spots 18 adjacent to building 12 providing parkingfor veterinary clinic staff, clients/pet owners not utilizing adrive-through service, etc.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, clinic building 12 includes at least onegarage, shown as garages 20 and 22. Garages 20 and 22 each include anentry garage door 24 and an exit garage door 26. As shown in FIG. 3,garages 20 and 22 each include a garage bay 28, including at least oneparking spot, shown as first spot 30 and second spot 32. In thearrangement shown in FIG. 3, entry garage doors 24 are located at afirst (e.g., entry) end of garage bays 28, and exit garage doors 26 arelocated at a second (e.g., exit) end of garage bays 28. In thisarrangement, entry garage door 24 faces and is opposite from exit garagedoors 26. In various embodiments, garage doors 24 and 26 are coupled tolift motors that move garage doors 24 and 26 between opened and closedpositions, and in particular embodiments, garage doors 24 and 26 arecoupled to sensors that automatically trigger the raising of garagedoors 24 and 26 when a vehicle approaches the garage doors 24 and/orgarage doors 26.

In various embodiments, garage bays 28 are sized to receive one or morevehicles within the garage bay. In various embodiments, garage bays 28may have a length (e.g., the distances between garage doors 24 and 26)of between 24 and 70 feet. In various embodiments, garage bays 28 mayhave a length of between 50 and 70 feet such that each garage bay issized to receive two vehicles end to end. In another embodiment, garagebays 28 may have a length between 24 and 40 feet such that each garagebay is sized to receive a single vehicle.

Clinic building 12 includes one or more interior rooms, which mayinclude exam rooms, waiting/reception area, restrooms, storage rooms,etc. In the particular embodiment shown, clinic building 12 includes awaiting/reception area 34, an exam room 36 and a restroom 38. In theparticular embodiment shown, building 12 includes a main entrance door40 that provides access to building 12 from outside, a first interiorentrance door 42 that provides access to waiting reception area 34 fromfirst garage 20, and a second interior entrance door 44 that providesaccess to waiting/reception area 34 from second garage 22. Building 12includes a door 46 located between waiting/reception area 34 and examroom 36. Further, building 12 includes a door 48 located in wall 50 thatprovides access directly from garage 20 into exam room 36.

In this arrangement, door 48 has a first face that faces garage bay 28of garage 20 and a second face that faces into exam room 36, when door48 is in the closed position. Thus, a client and a pet may leave avehicle, shown as vehicle 52, within garage 20 and move directly intoexam 36 without needing to walk outside or to walk throughwaiting/reception area 34. In contrast, in the particular embodimentshown, access to exam room 36 from garage 22 is provided throughwaiting/reception area 34. In other embodiments, door 44 may bepositioned to provide direct access to exam room 36 from garage 22, andin such embodiments, exam room 36 may include two doors such that directaccess is provided to exam room 36 from both garages 20 and 22. Building12 is constructed so that rooms 34, 36 and 38 are located betweengarages 20 and 22 providing efficient access to and from both garage 20and garage 22.

Building 12 includes a common roof 54 (see FIG. 2). Common roof 54covers garages 20 and 22 and rooms 34, 36 and/or 38. Further, building12 includes common exterior walls 56 that surround garages 20 and 22 androoms 34, 36 and/or 38 such that all are located within the samebuilding.

In various embodiments, building 12 may include a window 58 and/or awindow 60 within the interior walls defining exam room 36. As will beunderstood, windows 58 and 60 each have one face located in garages 20and 22, respectively, and the opposite face within exam room 36. Windows58 and 60 allow a person within exam room 36 to see into garages 20 and22, respectively. This arrangement provides convenience and safety toclients/pet owners by allowing, for example, a parent to handle a petwithin exam room 36 while maintaining supervision of children locatedwithin vehicle 52. Applicant believes that provision of windows 58 and60 in exam room 36 is counterintuitive to those in the veterinary fieldas privacy within the exam room has typically been considered moreimportant than the ability of the client/pet owner to see out of theexam room.

In various embodiments, drive-through veterinary clinic 10 may includeany number of garages and exam rooms as may be needed to serve aparticular area or client base. For example, drive-through veterinaryclinic 10 may include 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc. garages. In someembodiments, as shown in FIG. 3, drive-through veterinary clinic 10 maybe configured so that one exam room is located between and services twogarage bays. In other embodiments, each garage includes a dedicated examroom with direct access similar to exam room 36 and garage 20. Thus, insuch embodiments, clinic 10 that includes two garages also includes twoexam rooms. In another embodiment, clinic 10 includes two exam roomsboth located between the garages 20 and 22, and in some suchembodiments, both of the exam rooms are accessible from both garages 20and 22. In additional embodiments, clinic 10 may include one or morelobby. In additional embodiments, drive-through veterinary clinic 10 mayalso include a drive through lane on the exterior of the building forquickly picking up previously prescribed medicines, or handling otherbusiness that does not need direct access to exam room 36.

In various embodiments, drive-through veterinary clinic 10 is equippedto only provide outpatient medical treatment to small animals/pets. Asused herein a small animal/pet includes typical household pet animals orcompanion animals, such as dogs, cats, birds, various pet rodents (e.g.,rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, mice, rats, etc.), reptiles, amphibians,etc., and excludes animals typically classified as large animals,livestock or food animals, such as cows, horses, pigs, other livestock,etc. Further, outpatient veterinary medical treatment as used hereinincludes basic, routine medical care that small animals/pets routinelyand periodically need, such as outpatient wellness exams, routinevaccines, routine tests (e.g., blood test and fecal test), diagnosingand treating minor health conditions such as ear infections, provisionof heartworm medication and flea/tick medication, etc. Outpatientveterinary medical treatment as used herein excludes various proceduressuch as major surgeries, radiological examinations, procedures utilizinganesthesia, procedures requiring the pet to stay overnight, etc.

In various embodiments, exam room 36 is equipped with various veterinaryequipment used to provide the various outpatient treatments discussedherein. In various embodiments, exam room 36 includes at least one of anotoscope, a stethoscope, an ophthalmoscope, a centrifuge, a microscope,an electrocardiograph, and a pet microchip scanner. In a specificembodiment, exam room 36 includes all of an otoscope, a stethoscope, anophthalmoscope, a centrifuge, a microscope, an electrocardiograph, and apet microchip scanner

In various embodiments, clinic building 12 does not include variousfacilities typically found in a full-service veterinary clinic. In suchembodiments, clinic building 12 does not include one or more of anoperating room, overnight pet housing, radiology suite, or dentistrysuite. Applicant believes that conventional knowledge in the smallanimal veterinary industry is that a veterinary clinic must provide“high-value” inpatient treatment services in order to be commerciallyviable. In contrast to the conventional knowledge, Applicant believesthat a veterinary clinic, specifically configured according to one ormore of the exemplary embodiments discussed herein, can provide onlyoutpatient care in manner that is commercially viable and that providesa better client and pet experience. Further, in various embodiments, thesystems and methods discussed here allow for the provision of veterinarycare that can substantially reduce the fear/anxiety that some pets mayfeel when visiting the veterinarian (e.g., so called “fear freeveterinary care”). For example, most dogs are more comfortable in theirowner's vehicles than in a veterinary facility. The proximity of thevehicle to the exam room and/or the convenient option to use the vehicleas an examination room can ease the pet's anxiety resulting in improveddelivery of veterinary services.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, various processes for delivering outpatientveterinary care to a small animal are described. In an exemplaryembodiment, a process for delivering outpatient veterinary care to asmall animal includes the step of receiving a vehicle holding a smallanimal into a garage bay, such as garage bay 28, through a first garagedoor, such as entry garage door 24. Access to the garage may be providedby an entry driveway, such as driveway 14, and the vehicle traversesdriveway 14 to enter garage bay 28.

The process includes accessing the small animal at the vehicle, such asvehicle 52 within garage bay 28, in order provide medical treatment,such as outpatient veterinary medical treatment, to the small animal. Invarious embodiments, accessing the small animal at the vehicle mayinclude providing direction to the client/pet owner to open a door ofthe vehicle allowing the animal to be removed from the vehicle. Inaddition or in the alternative, accessing the small animal at thevehicle may include veterinary clinic staff removing or assisting in theremoval of the small animal from the vehicle. In specific embodiments,the small animal is located in the passenger or cargo compartment of thevehicle, such as a car, SUV, or pickup truck, and accessing the smallanimal includes removing the small animal from the vehicles passenger orcargo compartment.

The process includes directing the small animal from the vehicle, intothe garage bay and through a door, such as door 48, into an exam room,such as exam room 36. In various embodiments, directing the small animalfrom the vehicle includes providing direction to the owner of the smallanimal to lead the animal from the vehicle and into the exam room. Inother embodiments, directing the small animal from the vehicle includesleading the small animal from the vehicle and into the exam room, forexample by veterinary clinic staff. Alternatively, examination and careof the pet may be provided in the passenger or cargo compartment of thevehicle.

The process includes providing outpatient veterinary care to the smallanimal within the exam room. Following the completion of the outpatientveterinary care, the process includes directing the small animal (e.g.,accompanied by the animal's owner or clinic staff) from the exam roomthrough the door, back into the garage bay and into the vehicle. Theprocess includes opening a second garage door, such as garage door 26,located at a second end of the garage bay and positioned opposite andfacing the first garage door such that the vehicle holding the smallanimal is allowed to exit the garage bay through the second door.Following exit from the garage bay, the vehicle may traverse an exitdriveway, such as exit driveway 16, to leave the veterinary clinic andgarage bay.

In another embodiment, a process for delivering medical treatment to apet animal (e.g., a non-human small animal, companion animal, a petanimal, etc.) is provided. In this embodiment, the process includesreceiving a vehicle having a passenger compartment holding a pet animalwithin the passenger compartment into a garage bay, such as garage bay28, through a first garage door, such as garage door 24. The processincludes accessing the pet animal at passenger compartment of thevehicle within the garage bay for medical treatment. The processincludes opening a second garage door located at a second end of thegarage bay, allowing the vehicle holding the pet animal to exit thegarage bay following medical treatment of the pet animal.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, in specific embodiments, when a vehicle entersexternal entry area 62 (shown in FIG. 1), the associated entry garagedoor 24 opens, allowing vehicle 52 to pull into first spot 30 withingarage bay 28. In a specific embodiment, client/patient intake occurswhile vehicle 52 is located in first spot 30. In such embodiments, whilethe client's vehicle is located at spot 30, the client is offered a menuor listing of outpatient veterinary services and the user selects theservice or services that are needed. This selection generates an orderfor veterinary services that is received by clinic 10, and theveterinary care provided by clinic 10 corresponds with the receivedorder. In specific embodiments, the listing may be provided in a varietyof ways, such as via a computer terminal located adjacent to spot 30,via a paper listing/form provided by veterinary clinic staff, via anapplication interface on the client's smartphone or tablet computer,etc. During this intake/registration process, the client and pet may beidentified, and information is populated (e.g., if the pet has been seenby the clinic or related clinic in the past). Alternatively, the clientmay complete a form with the pet's and owner's information (e.g.,species, breed, age, name, health history, etc.).

Based on the information received at the intake/registration stage, theclient is provided with a price for the service ordered. In someembodiments, the client may also be provided with an estimated time forthe selected outpatient services to be completed. In particularembodiments, the information gathered at the intake stage is used toautomatically generate an invoice following completion of service, andin some embodiments, payment of the invoice is received immediatelyfollowing provision of service, such as prior to opening of exit garagedoor 26 and the client leaving garage bay 28. It is believed that thisconversion of a client-accessed menu into an invoice and associatedreminders for follow up pet care is unique service offered here.

In some embodiments, the intake/registration listing may be availableahead of time, e.g., via website, app, etc. associated withdrive-through veterinary clinic 10. In this embodiment, the client cancomplete registration ahead of time by selecting the services needed,and a cost estimate is provided (e.g., via the website or app) to theclient based on the selected services. Such a system allows the clientto evaluate price of the veterinary services prior to arriving at clinic10.

In this specific embodiment, following intake/registration, the vehiclepulls forward within garage bay 28 to spot 32. When vehicle 52 reachesspot 32, the small animal/pet is accessed as discussed above and broughtto exam room 36, if needed, for the provision of outpatient veterinarycare. When a first vehicle 52 reaches spot 32, a second vehicle mayenter garage bay 28 at spot 30 and begin the registration process whilethe pet of the vehicle in spot 32 receives the ordered outpatientveterinary care.

In various embodiments, veterinary clinic staff may perform a screeningof the condition of the small animal/pet either while vehicle 52 islocated in spot 30 or in spot 32. During the screening step anassessment is made by the veterinary clinic staff regarding whether thetreatment that small animal/pet needs falls within the types of servicesprovided by drive-through veterinary clinic 10. If it is not, theveterinary clinic may provide a referral to one or more nearbyveterinary hospitals suitable for treating the condition. In particularembodiments, the referral may be to a veterinary hospital associatedwith (e.g., under common ownership, under common partial ownership,under contractual referral agreement, etc.) drive-through veterinaryclinic 10. In some such embodiments, the referred veterinary hospitalmay be close by (e.g., less than 20 miles, less than 10 miles, less than5 miles away from) to drive-through veterinary clinic 10.

In some embodiments, in which intake/registration occurs before arrivalat clinic 10, limited pre-screening may occur via questions provided tothe client via the website or app at the time of registration. If theregistration system determines based on the answers provided to thequestions that the needed service exceeds the capabilities of clinic 10,a referral to an appropriate facility is made via the app or website,allowing the client/pet owner to go directly to the veterinary hospitalwithout coming first to drive-through clinic 10.

In various embodiments, drive-through veterinary clinic 10 is configuredvia the layout shown in FIG. 3, and/or through the specific selection oflimited services, to provide completion of outpatient veterinaryservices in an efficient manner and/or with lower client wait times. Invarious embodiments, clinic 10 is configured, as discussed above, tocomplete a client's ordered outpatient veterinary care in less than 25minutes and more specifically less than 17 minutes. In variousembodiments, clinic 10 is configured such that the average time tocomplete a client's ordered outpatient veterinary care, averaged overall client's seen in a 24 hour period, is less than 25 minutes and morespecifically less than 17 minutes. Based on Applicant's experience thisis at least 50% less than the approximate average time of receivingoutpatient veterinary care at a conventional veterinary clinic.

It should be understood that the figures illustrate the exemplaryembodiments in detail, and it should be understood that the presentapplication is not limited to the details or methodology set forth inthe description or illustrated in the figures. It should also beunderstood that the terminology is for the purpose of description onlyand should not be regarded as limiting.

Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects ofthe invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view ofthis description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed asillustrative only. The construction and arrangements, shown in thevarious exemplary embodiments, are illustrative only. Although only afew embodiments have been described in detail in this disclosure, manymodifications are possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions,structures, shapes and proportions of the various elements, values ofparameters, orientations, etc.) without materially departing from thenovel teachings and advantages of the subject matter described herein.Some elements shown as integrally formed may be constructed of multipleparts or elements, the position of elements may be reversed or otherwisevaried, and the nature or number of discrete elements or positions maybe altered or varied. The order or sequence of any process, logicalalgorithm, or method steps may be varied or re-sequenced according toalternative embodiments. Other substitutions, modifications, changes andomissions may also be made in the design, operating conditions andarrangement of the various exemplary embodiments without departing fromthe scope of the present invention.

While the current application recites particular combinations offeatures in the claims appended hereto, various embodiments of theinvention relate to any combination of any of the features describedherein whether or not such combination is currently claimed, and anysuch combination of features may be claimed in this or futureapplications. Any of the features, elements, or components of any of theexemplary embodiments discussed above may be used alone or incombination with any of the features, elements, or components of any ofthe other embodiments discussed above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A process for delivering medical treatment to asmall animal, comprising: receiving a vehicle holding a small animalinto a garage bay through a first garage door, the first garage doorlocated at a first end of the garage bay; accessing the small animal atthe vehicle within the garage bay for medical treatment; directing thesmall animal from the vehicle, into the garage bay and through a doorinto an exam room, the door having a first side facing the garage bayand a second side facing the exam room; providing medical treatment tothe small animal within the exam room; directing the small animal fromthe exam room through the door, into the garage bay and into the vehiclefollowing the provision of medical treatment; and opening a secondgarage door located at a second end of the garage bay and positionedopposite from the first garage door such that the vehicle holding thesmall animal is allowed to exit the garage bay through the second garagedoor.
 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the medical treatment is atleast one of blood testing, fecal testing, administration of a vaccine,administration of heartworm medication, administration of flea and tickmedicine and a wellness exam, wherein the small animal is a dog or acat.
 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the exam room includes at leastone of an otoscope, a stethoscope, an ophthalmoscope, a centrifuge, amicroscope, an electrocardiograph, and a pet microchip scanner.
 4. Theprocess of claim 1, wherein directing the small animal from the vehicleincludes providing direction to an owner of the small animal to lead thesmall animal from the vehicle and into the exam room.
 5. The process ofclaim 1, wherein directing the small animal from the vehicle includesleading the small animal from the vehicle and into the exam room.
 6. Theprocess of claim 1, further comprising receiving an order for medicaltreatment for the small animal, wherein the medical treatment providedto the small animal corresponds with the order.
 7. The process of claim6, wherein the vehicle is a first vehicle and the small animal is afirst small animal, and further comprising receiving a second vehiclehaving a second small animal into the garage bay through the firstgarage door such that the first vehicle is located between the secondvehicle and the second garage door, wherein an order for medicaltreatment for the second small animal is processed while the first smallanimal is in the exam room.
 8. The process of claim 6, wherein themedical treatment is completed in less than 25 minutes.
 9. A process fordelivering medical treatment to a non-human animal, comprising:receiving a vehicle having a passenger compartment into a garage baythrough a first garage door, the first garage door located at a firstend of the garage bay, wherein the vehicle holds a non-human animalwithin the passenger compartment; accessing the non-human animal at thepassenger compartment of the vehicle within the garage bay for medicaltreatment; delivering medical treatment to the non-human animal; andopening a second garage door located at a second end of the garage bay,allowing the vehicle holding the non-human animal to exit the garage bayfollowing medical treatment of the non-human animal.
 10. The process ofclaim 9, further comprising: leading the non-human animal from thevehicle to an exam room; and delivering medical treatment to thenon-human animal within the exam room.
 11. The process of claim 10,wherein the exam room is located adjacent to the garage bay such thatleading the non-human animal from the vehicle to an exam room includesmoving the non-human animal from the garage bay directly into the examroom.
 12. The process of claim 9, further comprising opening a door ofthe vehicle and delivering medical treatment while the non-human animalis located within the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
 13. Theprocess of claim 9, wherein the second garage door faces and issubstantially parallel to the first garage door.
 14. The process ofclaim 13, wherein a distance between the first garage door and thesecond garage door is greater than 24 feet and is less than 70 feet.